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Rick Majerus has passed away

When Rick Majerus decided to take a leave of absence for health reasons, the news was concerning.
When he announced he wasn’t coming back to the Billikens at all, it was alarming.

Now the true extent of Majerus’ health issues has become known. Multiple sources, including Majerus’ protege and current Loyola (Chicago) head coach Porter Moser, have confirmed that Majerus passed away today at the age of 64.

Details are in short supply at this time, but CBT will update the story as more news comes to light.

Majerus began his career with the then-independent Marquette Warriors, and jumped to Ball State after three years in Milwaukee. He became best known as head man of the Utah Utes, making it all the way to the NCAA title game in 1998. He led St. Louis to a 26-8 record and an NCAA berth in his final season as Billikens head coach.

Majerus’ overall record as a collegiate head coach was 517-215.

This is terrible. Majerus was a truly stellar coach that never did get his due.

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Re: Rick Majerus has passed away

he was a great coach and always seemed like a nice guy as far as i could tell. however his morbid obesity did him in. he had a quadruple bypass several years ago and his health issues were the reason why i wasn't interested in seeing him ever coaching at iu as i was afraid he could die quickly from the stress.

Re: Rick Majerus has passed away

I like practice, I love teaching, I love to see a kid get a degree and an education. I enjoy the college campus. I love the theater in our campus. I like the campus life. There's a travel club on our campus, and I'll go to those lectures. In an NBA player's life, how can you make a difference? I mean, you might be able to make a little bit of a difference, but I think I've impacted all my players more than any pro coach they've ever played for -- both from a basketball standpoint, but more importantly, from a lifestyle standpoint. (Keith) Van Horn just asked me to be the godfather for his baby. It was fun to sit through Andre (Miller's) graduation, to see his mom smile. It was fun to see Hanno (Mottola) come from Europe and realize his dream. It was fun to see Drew Hansen get in Stanford Law School. The other night, one of my players had a really bad family problem and I really did enjoy offering a perspective on it and seeing if I could help him out. A lot of people that are very wealthy throw money at their problems, but it's fun to help them work through it. I love the fans and the college students. I like the alumni association deal. I like the rah-rah and all that. I like the band rather than that fabricated music. I like the fact that we have students that are cheerleaders that really care, as opposed to a dancing girl team of hired mercenaries.

Re: Rick Majerus has passed away

He's truly one of the underrated coaching personalities of the past few decades. What's not to love about this guy?

Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
And life itself, rushing over me
Life itself, the wind in black elms,
Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

Re: Rick Majerus has passed away

I've talked about it many times before, but I've always believed Rick Majerus is the reason we almost lost to the Bucks in that 2000 first round series, a year after we swept them. I remember seeing him multiple times at Conseco scouting us for Karl, and man did he ever crack our sets. To be fair, we were pretty predictable that year, but the saying goes that there are no secrets in the NBA, it's all about execution. However, seeing the Bucks all watching Mark bring the floor up, and changing their defense accordingly every play, it was a sight to behold. I've never seen a team so well prepared, and it took Reggie literally becoming a superhero just to get us to that last shot.

Re: Rick Majerus has passed away

I've talked about it many times before, but I've always believed Rick Majerus is the reason we almost lost to the Bucks in that 2000 first round series, a year after we swept them. I remember seeing him multiple times at Conseco scouting us for Karl, and man did he ever crack our sets. To be fair, we were pretty predictable that year, but the saying goes that there are no secrets in the NBA, it's all about execution. However, seeing the Bucks all watching Mark bring the floor up, and changing their defense accordingly every play, it was a sight to behold. I've never seen a team so well prepared, and it took Reggie literally becoming a superhero just to get us to that last shot.

The man was a basketball genius. Rest in peace.

I still remember watching Game 5 as a 12 year old. God that was nerve-racking.